Explain biblical ideas about the goodness of God:

The Bible presents God as a morally perfectly good being, everything that he is, could be or ever will be, will be morally perfect like him. The Bible presents God as benevolent, an all loving figure.
It displays this in a number of ways throughout the Bible. Everything he does is good and done out of love. He is the source of all goodness and love. His nature is goodness and love. However, it is not a sterile and remote source of goodness (Plato’s Ideal and Aristotle’s P.M). God’s is a goodness born out of a tender and deep relationship with his creation.

The first and possible the most important way is in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. The creation account is possible the most important book in both Judaism and Christianity because it provides the evidence of how the earth was created and came into existence and gives prove of God's omnipotence that is unquestionable to both religions. God’s goodness is revealed in the creation and the sustaining of the world, since the creation of the world was an act of love Genesis states that everything that God creates is "Very Good". When God created the world in the Genesis creation account he commanded various things. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light, and God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness ". (Genesis 1:34). The authors of the bible when praising God do so because he provides reason for it God provides for the needs of his creation, giving the seasons and the harvest. The beauty of nature and the ways in which the Earth seems to be designed for the benefit of the people in it, also show God’s goodness. The creation of animals, plants and waters are all necessary for the sustainment of life, and religion, “Be fruitful and multiply fill the earth and subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth and God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed to you it shall be for food." (Genesis 1:2829).

In hebrew there are a range of words for “good” which can portray the goodness of God. One is the word ‘Hesed’, this word has a cluster of theological meanings: Love, mercy, grace, kindness. In the story of Ruth 1:8, “may the lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness” we see this term being used in the sense of ‘acting for the benefit of someone else. Another hebrew word that portrays the goodness of god is ‘Tub’ which is the idea of goodness in terms of God’s deeds, in particularly about the way in which he ‘saves’ his people from their enemies and gives them hope. This is illustrated in Isaiah 63:7 “the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses”, when it says ‘good things’ it means the actions which in this quote could be God saving them from slavery in Egypt. The final word which portrays God’s goodness is “Rachamim” which is the ideas of a mother, this is a key idea that through this feminine image, God can have pity on humans as a mother would have pity on a child in need. This is demonstrated in Isaiah 49:15-16 when he says “can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb?” this shows that God is highly personal and intimate with his people.

God of the Bible is interested in moral behaviour which is unlike Plato’s form of the Good which is an idea incapable of taking an interest in anything. God in the bible gives people the freedom to make their own moral decisions but he clearly sets out what is right and what is wrong and he gives them rules to follow. God believes that everyone can be morally good thus living their lives accordingly. As soon as God creates humans he gives them rules of follow, they are to take responsibility for the earth he has created and not take from the tree of knowledge. This shows that he cares not for worship being their main duty, but he takes an interest in their lives. However he doesn't force them into obeying those rules, he is loving and lets them choose for themselves, this is an act of love. He knows that because he has made man in his image (Genesis 1:27) they are like God and they know what is expected of them. Even thought they haven't been socialised they still know what is morally right. Rules are given throughout the bible, when God chooses the Jews are his chosen people they are given rules to follow, not all of them about worshipping God but about how people treat each other. God is interested in the lives of everyone he has mapped out everyone's live whilst he knit every single person together in the womb (Psalm 139:1316). This shows God has a special and caring relationship with everyone and he wants everyone be morally perfect. He gives us help on how to be so, the Decalogue Exodus 20:12 tells us to honour thy father and thy mother. God is seen to be a judge who will bring about eschatological justice, he will elect those people worthy of salvation and an eternal life in heaven on the basis of their faith and good works in the current life. The profit Amos warns that God will punish those who exploit the weak or the poor. “They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed" (Amos 2:7). Also God’s goodness is shown through his moral code which is The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) The moral code equals the right living. It gives us an identity as people and demonstrates God’s justice and care which is like a mother telling her child not to do something out of love this is shown by the prophet Hosea uses the imagery of an adult and a small child to show how God can be likened to the love and pride of a parent when a baby is taking its first steps; God’s goodness is also compared with the reins used to steady a toddler. This portrays God to be compassionate as God created them so knows what is best.

God’ goodness is exemplified in the person of Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross. In Christian belief, God chose to come to the world as a man, to live, to suffer and to make choices in the same way that people have to, and to pay the price for the sins of the world. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16) Christians believe that Jesus showed people the right way to treat each other and to behave towards God through his moral teachings, parables and miracles. Through his parables and miracles he taught his followers not to repay evil with evil, but to love each other and to forgive their enemies, Matthew 5:44 “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. This suggests that God treats everyone equally and it also demonstrates agape. He is also teaching that his followers should recognise the ‘image of God’ in themselves and in other people. Christians believe that because God sacrificed himself of the cross, they can have certain knowledge of the ultimate goodness of God, even when they encounter difficulties in their own lives. God sacrificed himself on the cross showing his ultimate goodness; even when we suffer and we don't understand why, but because of his death on the cross we can be sure of the eternal goodness of God.

A final biblical idea that shows God’s goodness is his forgiveness and compassion. God takes pity on people when they are suffering this incorporates the hebrew word ‘rachamim’. For example, Hanna who was married to Elkanah who also had another wife, Peninnah. Peninnah had children but Hannah was infertile. This caused some friction between them and Peninnah would boast of her children which would upset Hannah. Hannah turned to God and asked him for a son. She promised God that if only she could have a son, that son would be dedicated to God’s service; and God took pity on her resulting in the birth of the prophet Samuel. This is an example of his compassionate response to a prayer.

In conclusion, I have explained the biblical ideas about God which are God creates and sustains the world, Morality, The incarnation of Jesus, His forgiveness and Compassion and the hebrew words that define as good.